For much of the past three years, the global platinum industry has been forced to answer the same question: what happens when the world no longer needs internal combustion engines?
The rise of electric vehicles, weaker automotive demand and a prolonged slump in platinum group metal (PGM) prices cast a shadow over investment decisions from Johannesburg to Harare. Projects were delayed, expansion plans reviewed and investors questioned whether platinum’s golden era was nearing its end.
Yet inside the conference halls of Victoria Falls this week, Zimbabwe’s platinum producers projected a very different message.
Rather than preparing for decline, industry leaders say the country’s vast resource base, expanding mining capacity and growing relevance in clean-energy technologies position Zimbabwe for decades of future growth.
Speaking at the Platinum Group Metals Indaba, Mimosa Mining Company Managing Director Fungai Makoni, delivering remarks on behalf of Platinum Producers Association chairman Alex Mhembere, said global decarbonisation efforts and emerging technologies were creating fresh opportunities for platinum group metals. Zimbabwe, he argued, is strategically positioned to benefit. Zimbabwe hosts the world’s third-largest platinum group metal reserves after South Africa and Russia, with deposits stretching along the mineral-rich Great Dyke.
“This Indaba comes at a time where there’s been growing interest,” Makoni said, pointing to renewed global attention on PGMs as countries pursue cleaner energy systems and lower-carbon industrial processes.
For Zimbabwe, the timing could hardly be better.
The country remains one of the world’s most significant platinum producers, anchored by three established mining giants — Zimplats, Mimosa Mining Company and Unki Mine — all of which continue to operate large-scale mines along the Great Dyke. Emerging projects including Karo Platinum, Great Dyke Investments and Todal Mining are expected to add substantial production capacity in the coming years.
The optimism comes after a turbulent period for the sector.
In 2024 and early 2025, platinum prices came under pressure as automakers reduced inventories and investors anticipated a rapid transition to battery-powered vehicles. The uncertainty forced several miners to reassess capital spending. Mimosa, Zimbabwe’s second-largest platinum producer, temporarily suspended its US$130 million North Hill life-extension project as market conditions deteriorated.
But industry sentiment has improved markedly.
Platinum prices have recovered on the back of tighter global supplies, slower-than-expected electric vehicle adoption and growing demand from industrial and hydrogen-related applications. The rebound recently prompted Mimosa to revive the North Hill project, a move viewed as an important vote of confidence in the sector’s long-term prospects.
The industry’s argument rests on a simple premise: while battery-electric vehicles may reduce future demand for catalytic converters, platinum’s role in hydrogen fuel cells, electrolysers and other clean-energy technologies could create entirely new markets.
Analysts increasingly view platinum as a critical metal in the global energy transition rather than a casualty of it. Forecasts for 2026 suggest continued support from industrial demand, hydrogen technologies and constrained global supply.
For Zimbabwe, those trends carry significant economic implications.
Platinum group metals are the country’s second-most valuable mineral export after gold and generate billions of dollars in foreign currency earnings annually. The sector supports thousands of jobs, drives infrastructure investment and remains central to the country’s ambition of becoming a major mining economy.
Makoni told delegates that current producers are operating at full capacity while simultaneously investing in expansion and beneficiation projects aimed at increasing value addition within Zimbabwe.
The beneficiation push remains a cornerstone of Government mining policy.
For years, Zimbabwe has sought to move beyond exporting raw or semi-processed minerals by encouraging local processing and refining. Platinum producers have responded by investing in smelting infrastructure and supporting plans for additional downstream processing facilities. The long-term objective is to capture more value domestically rather than exporting concentrates for processing abroad.
Yet challenges remain.
Power shortages continue to affect operations across the mining sector. First-quarter production figures released this year showed output declines at both Mimosa and Unki, partly due to electricity disruptions and operational constraints. While Zimplats increased production significantly, industry executives acknowledge that reliable power remains one of the sector’s biggest risks.
The sector is also grappling with foreign currency pressures. Platinum producers recently disclosed that they are owed more than US$228 million under Zimbabwe’s export-retention system, a situation miners say affects cash flows and investment planning.
Despite those headwinds, the mood in Victoria Falls was notably forward-looking.
Industry executives see a pipeline of new mines, improving market fundamentals and rising demand from emerging technologies creating conditions for sustained growth.
As Makoni outlined Zimbabwe’s geological advantage, the message was clear: the platinum industry believes the Great Dyke’s story is still in its early chapters.
With some of the world’s largest untapped platinum resources still beneath Zimbabwean soil and new projects edging closer to production, miners are betting that the future of platinum may be far more resilient than many once imagined.
